ECOLOGICAL VISION: ALONG THE ENTIRE SUPPLY CHAIN

Sustainability and environmental friendliness are of particular importance at FUCHS. At its 60-some sites around the world, the Carbon Neutrality Strategy is already being implemented at FUCHS. Yet this is not enough for the company. The lubricant producer is looking far beyond its own boundaries at the complete process and supply chain of its products.

ECOLOGICAL VISION

ALONG THE ENTIRE ADDED VALUE CHAIN

“The focus is currently on the sustainability of our own production. In the long term, however, it‘s not just our production that needs to be carbon neutral, but also our products. To achieve this, we need renewable and biodegradable products above all else,” sums up FUCHS Chief Technical Officer Dr. Lutz Lindemann. „We also aim to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our customers with the quality of our products, for instance by helping to increase the energy efficiency of the relevant application through the use of our products.”

The subject of sustainable purchasing is high on the agenda at FUCHS – particularly in terms of the raw materials used in the FUCHS products. “The crucial question of the matter is: How do we deal with our primary raw material, crude petroleum?” says Lindemann. “Some exciting approaches already exist, such as the idea of extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and combining it with hydrogen to obtain an alternative to crude oil."

FUCHS already produces biodegradable products such as PLANTO engine oil for commercial vehicles, which was just recently approved by the engine manufacturer Deutz, or a range for bicycle maintenance, which is produced using up to 90 percent renewable raw materials. „There‘s still a lot of scope to do more,“ says Lindemann, referring to numerous research activities in which FUCHS is involved and which are showing promising results.

The CapAcidy project concluded in mid-2019 aimed to use regional renewable raw materials for manufacturing. “The project focused on research work for replacing palm oil imported from the tropics to produce medium-chain fatty acids with fermentation substrate from domestic biogas plants. We are currently testing the possibilities for using this in our company.” Lindemann is also very interested in the “Zero Carbon Footprint” alliance, which wants to make carbon-rich waste streams usable for industry with the help of biotechnology. „In a nutshell, we could use recycled cooking fat as a thickener in our lubricating greases,“ states the FUCHS Board Member. “The current objective is to collaborate with an external manufacturer to produce the identified molecules in large quantities, test their effectiveness in practical trials, and gain an overview of the costs.”

FUCHS is best able to influence the situation at its own sites of course, and has proclaimed carbon neutrality since the start of 2020. Of primary importance is optimizing procedures and processes in order to further restrict energy and water consumption. “We have already cut carbon emissions by 30 percent since 2010,” says Lindemann of one success achieved in recent years. “But there is still a great deal of potential. Some of our subsidiaries like FUCHS LUBRICANTS (UK) are setting a very good example. When a new central administration building was built in Great Britain, they used the opportunity to install around 2,000 solar collectors on the roof. And a rainwater collection system was planned with the new warehouse.” What‘s more, FUCHS wants to further increase the share of renewable energy, which currently stands at 27 percent. “Countries like Norway with its many hydroelectric plants are especially well suited.”

However, it is often the usage phase that impacts the eco-efficiency analysis across the entire value chain and lubricants are an important adjusting element for environmentally friendly industry. „Our products reduce friction, wear, and corrosion, whether in machines and transmissions, modern high-speed trains, wind farms, or hydroelectric power plants,“ emphasizes Lindemann. „And even though we‘re not exactly a classic ‚green‘ company, we still see ourselves as technological pioneers in our sector who are continuously working to steadily optimize the performance of our products and develop innovations. One current example is the research into an ‚e-engine oil‘ for electric cars that not only lubricates the transmission but also cools e-machines and power electronics – a fluid with many talents that impresses particularly with a significantly greater heat capacity and better heat conductivity compared to conventional engine oils. This is a really important property for the operation of new e-cars, as temperature peaks are reached in system operation that have to be reduced again quickly.“ Such an engine oil could also stand up to the challenges of the ‚e-car of the future‘ with revolutions of 30,000 to 50,000, and stands for a sustainable business policy that focuses on long-term developments.